


Other Aspects

by DianaandAlicia



Series: SPD Stories [8]
Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Althea has a sensory processing disorder, CW Accidental Wetting, F/F, Set after 5x08, This is set at the denim factory, meltdowns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-30 18:51:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20451905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DianaandAlicia/pseuds/DianaandAlicia
Summary: When Althea has a sensory overload turn into a meltdown, Alicia has to deal with an aspect of Al's sensory processing disorder that she isn't really familiar with.





	Other Aspects

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Y'all! I have another SPD story for you! Um this one is a bit different than the others because I wanted to look into the aspect of how sometimes when meltdowns or sensory overloads happen, bodily functions might not work like they should, or they get put to the side when something bigger like a meltdown is happening. This story is more personal to me because when I have overloads or meltdowns, sometimes if it's more severe, I have a hard time distinguishing when my body is pushed to certain limits for things or when it's doing ok, and I wanted to explore that in this series. Like usual, be nice.
> 
> Because of the nature of this story, I did put a content warning in the tags, and if you don't like wetting/accidental wetting, this story might not be for you. I didn't write anything graphic, but certain things are mentioned so if you don't like it, don't read it. 
> 
> Lastly, I didn't write this to be perceived as like a kink or anything involved with kinks/BDSM, I wrote it to be perceived as a medical issue/aspect of having a sensory processing disorder. 
> 
> Oh and sorry for the June hate but I don't like June and I needed a small antagonist for the story.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you like it!

“Alicia, Morgan, do you copy?” 

“Yeah, we’re here.” Morgan said into the walkie talkie. “Is everything ok Victor?” 

“How far out are you?” 

“From the factory? About twenty minutes. Why?” 

“You have to come back now. Something’s wrong with Al.” 

“With Al?” Alicia asked, taking the radio from Morgan. “Victor, what’s wrong?” 

“Alicia, I think that she’s having one of those sensory overloads that you’ve told us about.” 

“What caused it?” 

“June shouted at her.” 

“She WHAT?” Alicia roared, running over to the car that she and Morgan had taken out. 

“Althea went outside by the garden area to take a video of some rabbits for the kids to watch or something and June couldn’t find her for something so when she finally did, she started to scream at her.” 

“We’ll be back soon.” Alicia said, and she and Morgan drove back to the direction of the denim factory. 

“Alicia it’s going to be ok.” Morgan said quietly, seeing that Alicia looked like she wanted to skin June alive and roast her over a fire. 

“No. You know how Al is, she can’t really handle super loud noises and if she’s having a sensory overload, that means that June must have been really loud or shouted for a long time.” 

“Al will be fine.” Morgan said, to try and calm Alicia down. 

“Morgan. When one of Al’s senses gets overloaded, it causes her pain. Do you understand that? If June shouting at her triggered an auditory overload, her ears could be hurting, she could be getting a headache, this isn’t just something that is ok.” 

Morgan didn’t say anything else to that and when the two got back to the factory, Alicia sprinted over to Victor, who was waiting for them to return. 

“Where is she?” 

“Althea is hiding behind the couch in the living area. Last time I checked, she was rocking back and forth, with her fingers jammed in her ears.” 

Alicia nodded, taking the information and going inside. 

When she got to the living area, she looked behind the couch and her heart fell when she saw Al hunched in a ball, her face tucked against her knees, with her fingers stuck in her ears. 

“Hi Baby.” Alicia said quietly, giving Al a small tap on the arm to get her attention. 

Al looked up and Alicia saw that her eyes were red and her face had tear streaks on it. 

“Alicia?” 

“Yes Baby. It’s me.” Alicia cooed, and she could tell that Althea was on the verge of a meltdown. 

“I’m sorry.” Althea whimpered, tears pooling in her eyes again. 

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m not mad.” Alicia said, keeping her voice gentle and calm. “Are you able to move? Would you like to go upstairs and talk about it?” 

“I can’t.” 

“That’s ok Althea. If you need to stay here, we’ll stay here. Whatever is best for you.” 

Al nodded in response and let out a shaky exhale. She still felt like shit and she knew that a meltdown was still very possible, but she did feel a bit better now that Alicia was back. 

“Would you like to talk about it?” 

“I went outside to take a video of some rabbits. They were cute and I wanted to show the kids later. Next thing I know, June comes out the door and starts screaming at me, wondering where I was, as if I left the property. She was too loud so I ran inside and she followed me and kept yelling, until Victor told her to leave me alone. Then I was here.” 

Alicia nodded in understanding and scratched her head. 

“I’m sorry this happened to you, especially when I wasn’t here.” 

“That’s ok, you can’t control everything that goes on here.” 

“I know, I just don’t like seeing my Althie in pain.” Alicia said quietly, looking at her girlfriend sadly. 

The two sat for fifteen minutes and it wasn’t long until Althea’s squirming started to send red flags Alicia’s way. 

“Althie, are you ok? Why are you being such a wiggle worm, huh?” 

“It’s nothing.” Al said quickly, a little too quickly for Alicia’s liking. 

“C’mon, let’s get up. Your ass probably hurts, sitting on the hard floor for so long.” 

“I can’t.” 

“You can’t? Al, why can’t you get up?” 

“I was bad.” 

“How were you bad?” 

“I can’t tell you.” 

“Althea, what’s wrong?” 

This time, Al didn’t answer, she only shook her head and pulled her legs in closer towards her body. 

Unfortunately, that movement with her body was all that Alicia needed and she instantly knew what was wrong. 

“Althea, Pudding, straighten your legs out please.” 

Al groaned, knowing that Alicia knew, and she slowly straightened her legs. 

“Spread ‘em.” Alicia said, and when Al did what Alicia asked, the younger girl nodded, seeing the problem right away. 

There were a couple damp patches by Al’s crotch and on the pant legs of her inner thighs. 

Althea had an accident. 

This was an aspect of Althea’s sensory processing disorder that the two didn’t talk about. Sometimes, especially when Al is preoccupied with a sensory overload or a meltdown, her brain tends to ignore her body’s signals when it comes to the bathroom. She also has trouble during these times, with distinguishing when her bladder only has a little in it compared to when she is close to having an accident. 

Over the course of their relationship, Althea has only had one accident, and to be fair, it happened when she was sick. Althea thought that this was embarrassing, and she refused to talk about it with Alicia, thinking that her girlfriend would baby her or be disgusted with her. 

Alicia looked at her girlfriend and felt bad when she saw her cheeks red with humiliation. She knew that she had to deescalate the situation fast, because this had enough potential to put Althea over the edge and into full meltdown mode. 

“Is that why you’re squirming around? Althea, do you need to go to the bathroom?” 

Al nodded, not even looking at her girlfriend. 

“Well, let’s go.” Alicia said, helping Al up. She noticed that nothing got on the floor and the damp patches were so small that they were mostly hidden when Al was standing. Nobody would even know unless they were aware of the situation ahead of time. 

The two made their way to the bathroom and after Al finished her business, Alicia came back into the bathroom with new pants for her girlfriend to wear after she got cleaned up. 

“I’m sorry.” Althea whispered, tears dribbling down her cheeks. She was mortified that she had done something so childish. 

“It’s ok. I’m not mad.” Alicia said gently, looking at her girlfriend with nothing but love. 

Al sniffled in response, refusing to look at Alicia. 

“Honestly, it’s not a big deal Al. You stopped just in time; your pants barely even got wet. Just a couple dribbles.” Alicia cooed, not wanting Al to feel bad. 

“I can’t believe I did something so childish.” Al whispered, as Alicia helped her clean up. 

“Everyone has an accident at least once in their lives, and plus, you were moments away from a meltdown. No need to beat yourself up over something that you can’t control.” 

Al shook her head in disagreement and started to cry harder, hot tears rolling down her cheeks. It was then that Alicia realized that Al had gone into meltdown mode. 

“Oh Baby, it’s ok.” Alicia cooed, pulling Al into a hug. The journalist pressed her face against Alicia’s neck, letting out a wavering sob, shaking in Alicia’s grasp. 

“How, how can it possibly be ok?” Al choked out, before dissolving into tears again. “You’re probably disgusted with me.” 

“No Baby. Never for something like this. Never ever.” Alicia said gently, knowing that she had to stay calm for Althea. 

Althea kept crying, and Alicia could tell that if they didn’t move out of the bathroom and go to their bedroom for some privacy, Al would only get more distressed. 

“Come on Baby, let’s go sit down.” She said quietly, leading Al back to the bedroom that the two shared. 

Alicia settled down in the recliner that they had moved into the room and pulled Althea on her lap. It was a big recliner, and both girls fit comfortably. 

“There we go, nice and comfy.” Alicia said soothingly. 

Al didn’t respond, but her crying seemed to be dying down the longer the two sat in the chair. 

When Al was slightly calmer than she was in the bathroom, Alicia rubbed her back and started to think of ways to further her cause with helping Al calm down. 

“How about we do some nice, deep breaths?” She suggested, and Al slowly nodded. 

“Ok. In 1…2…3…4…5. Out 1…2…3…4…5. In 1…2…3…4…5. Out 1…2…3…4…5.” 

They repeated this a few more times, and Alicia started to grow hopeful when the breathing exercises helped Al calm down and stop crying. 

“There we go Pudding. Are you starting to feel better?” 

Al nodded and snuggled closer to Alicia. 

“I’m sorry.” Al said after a moment, breaking the silence. 

“Al you didn’t do anything wrong.” 

“I had an accident. I’m an adult.” 

“Honestly, you can’t call it an accident when you barely wet yourself. And yeah, you’re an adult, but sometimes your bladder doesn’t send the signals to your brain and you have no control over that so I don’t want you to feel guilty about it.” Alicia said in a voice that Al knew was serious. Alicia wasn’t going to argue about this any further. 

“I’m sorry when June shouted at me. I shouldn’t have gotten upset.” 

“Al, Sweetie, it’s not your fault that June shouted at you. You never even left the property. What you were doing was harmless. You were taking a video of some rabbits outside. That’s nothing to be sorry for and definitely nothing to be ashamed about.” 

The two were quiet again so Al shifted closer to her girlfriend, and Alicia wrapped a blanket around Althea so she wouldn’t get cold. 

“What are you going to do about June?” Al asked, knowing that with Alicia as her girlfriend, June should probably sleep with one eye open. 

“I’ll wring her neck.” Alicia said instantly, without thinking. She looked down and saw the alarm on Al’s face, so she changed her answer. “I’ll talk with Morgan tonight, and hopefully within the next day or two, we can arrange a group wide meeting to go back over your sensory processing disorder and explain why there are things that you can and can’t tolerate.” 

Al slowly nodded and the two were quiet again. Everything was nice and peaceful, with Alicia lightly rocking in the recliner, holding Al close to her. When she looked down after about ten minutes, she smiled when she saw Al sleeping, her head against Alicia’s chest. 

It was times like these that she was happy that they snapped up the extra wide recliner, because she could literally cradle Al like a baby and hold her on her lap since they had so much leg room. They didn’t even have to worry about Al’s feet dangling over the side, the chair was so big. 

Alicia didn’t mind that the plans that she had with Morgan had essentially been canceled, if cuddling in the chair made Al feel better, she’d stay with her for all of eternity. Also, meltdowns make Al extremely tired so if she’s sleeping, that means she’s basically ‘recharging her batteries’ as Victor likes to say. The last thing Alicia wanted was to jostle Al and wake her up when she was finally resting. 

The younger girl was also happy about how well it went, getting Al to calm down from her meltdown. This one wasn’t too bad, she just cried a lot, so it was easier to console her. Most of the time, Al’s meltdowns look a lot like temper tantrums that toddlers have, and when Al is having one of those kinds of meltdowns, it’s harder for Alicia to get her to focus and calm her down. 

Since Al was sleeping, Alicia took this time to doze off for a while herself, getting a nice nap in before waking up and finding out that Althea was gone. 

“Al?” She asked, though upon looking around the bedroom, she saw that it was empty. Throwing off the blanket, she stood up and paused, feeling something wet on her jeans. She looked down and saw a wet spot on her thigh before putting two and two together. 

Quickly, Alicia changed her jeans and went down the hall to the bathroom, seeing the light on and the door open ajar. She knocked and paused when she heard Victor. 

“Who is it?” He asked, and Alicia stopped in her tracks. 

“It’s Alicia. Have you seen Al?” 

“She’s in here. You can come in Alicia.” 

Alicia opened the door and saw Victor leaning against the counter, and Al was sitting in the bathtub. Victor had put plenty of bubble bath mixture in the water and everything from Al’s shoulders down was covered in bubbles. 

“She told me that she didn’t want to wake you, but she had an accident so I decided that if anyone deserves a bubble bath today, it’s her.” He explained. 

“Thank you. We’ve been having a bit of trouble with that today.” Alicia said, not knowing if Al told Victor anything or not. 

“Yeah is she ok? Does she have a UTI or something?” 

“No. When Al has an overload or a meltdown, sometimes her brain is so focused on catering to the senses that are being overloaded that if her bladder nerves send a signal telling her to go to the bathroom, her brain will basically ignore it because at the moment it won’t seem like the most important thing, and then she ends up having an accident. Then, even after the meltdown is long gone, it might take her a few hours or so to catch up, and have her body go back to normal. Has she told you anything about it?” 

“No. After she told me she had an accident and didn’t want to wake you, she stopped talking. She hasn’t said a word since.” 

Alicia nodded in understanding. “Well, thanks for taking care of her. You and Luciana are the only two that I feel like I can trust here.” 

Victor nodded and squeezed Alicia’s shoulder. “I’ll leave you two alone.” He said, before leaving the bathroom. 

Once they were alone, Althea spoke up. 

“I’m sorry I peed on you.” 

“Hey it’s ok. It happens.” 

“But it’s gross! You must be disgusted.” 

“Althea, what did I tell you before? I’d never ever be disgusted with you. Besides, I’ve had worse.” 

“You have?” 

“I get blood and guts on me every time I kill a walker. That’s grosser than pee. Before the apocalypse, when Nick was going through his withdrawals, sometimes he’d throw up on me by accident. Besides, pee is sterile so it’s not like I’m gonna die from an infectious disease because of it.” Alicia reasoned. 

“Am I gonna be in trouble because of it?” 

“Althea, you will not get in trouble over a medical issue you can’t control. In our group, you don’t ever have to worry about being punished for something as small as an accident. Or anything that happens regarding your sensory processing disorder, for that matter.” 

“Am I gonna have to wear stuff because of it?” 

“Wear stuff? You mean like diapers or pads or something?” 

“Yeah.” 

“I don’t think we even have stuff like that here at the factory. Why? Did you want to start utilizing some sort of protection?” 

“No, I was just wondering if you were gonna make me do that.” 

“Althea, you know that I’d never force you to do something that you don’t to do, and that includes wearing an item of clothing that you don’t want to.” 

Once they got that squared away, the two sat in silence for a few minutes. 

“How long did you want to stay in there?” Alicia eventually asked Al, not knowing how long Al’s been in the bathtub. 

“Five more minutes?” The journalist asked, with a very hopeful look on her face. 

“Sure. I’ll go get some clothes for you and when I get back, we can get you out.” Alicia agreed. She left Al for a few minutes, going to pick out some clothing for her. 

She came back with some pajamas and was pleased to see that Al had drained the tub, rinsed off in the shower and was already drying herself off with her towel. 

“Are you fine with going downstairs and eating with everyone tonight? Or would you like to eat supper in the bedroom?” Alicia asked as she helped Al dress. 

“Um can I eat in the bedroom?” 

“That’s fine. Would you like me to join you, or do you need time by yourself?” 

“You can join me if you want.” 

“Alright Baby. Let’s go into the bedroom and relax until it’s time for me to go get our food.” 

Later that evening, after supper and after Alicia put Al to bed, she sat everyone down in the living area and discussed Al’s sensory processing disorder with them again. 

“So yeah, that’s why you can’t really yell at her or raise your voice around her for a long period of time. The auditory stimulation is too much for her and it actually causes her pain. She could get an ear ache or a migraine if it continues on for too long so I ask that all of you keep that in mind when you’re dealing with Al. She doesn’t want or need to be coddled like a baby, but don’t yell at her over things that don’t matter. Ok?” She finished, looking around at everyone but making a pointed look at June. Everyone nodded and the matter was settled, hopefully for the final time. 

Since it was getting late, everyone started to settle down and turned in to go to bed. Alicia walked into the bedroom and smiled when she saw Al peacefully sleeping on her side. Her girlfriend had her sleep mask over her eyes and she was snoring softly. 

“My Sweetie.” She whispered, happy to see Althea at peace. Alicia wasn’t ready to go to bed yet so she turned on the small lamp by the recliner, knowing that the light wouldn’t bother Al since her eyes were covered, and she picked up a book and started to read, happy to relax in a silent room after a stressful day, and not have to worry about anything. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I'll talk to you all soon!


End file.
